Jennifer Sayers
“I love being a part of the Grants Committee,” Tri Kappa’s Jennifer Sayers says. “It is so much work and so time-consuming, but it really puts together why we do what we do. We come full circle by having the recipients come to our meeting to speak. It is so meaningful.”
Jennifer grew up around Tri Kappa, as her mother was a member of the Crawfordsville chapter. So when Maria Douglas started politely pressuring Jennifer to join, it was a comfortable way for her to get involved in the Bloomington community. “I told her that I know Tri Kappa. I grew up with Tri Kappa,” Jennifer laughs. She and Maria have been friends for years, hanging out in the neighborhood and attending kids’ baseball games together. When Maria found out that Jennifer was off work on Tuesdays, Tri Kappa’s meeting day, she knew she had found her moment. “Maria told me I should do it, and I agreed,” Jennifer says.
Born and raised in Crawfordsville, Jennifer attended nursing school at Purdue , interning at Bloomington Hospital. She was offered a job and became an emergency-room nurse when she graduated. She spent 19 years in the ER before motherhood made her take a step back and reconsider the long days she was working. So instead, she decided to start her nurse-practitioner’s degree. She then used that training in the hospital’s cardiology department.
“I asked myself what I was going to do with the next chapter of my life,” Jennifer says. “The next few years were a whirlwind.” In 2019, Jennifer’s medical career took another turn as she started working at the Indiana University Student Health Center on campus.
Jennifer and her husband, Greg, who is from Ellettsville, have three children, Eli, Nia and Ian. On their first (blind) date, they ate at Red Lobster and went bowling at the Indiana Memorial Union.
Jennifer is glad she joined Tri Kappa. “I like what we do and why we do it the most,” Jennifer says. “Joining during Covid kept me from meeting a lot of people, but I am glad that has changed.”
More About Jennifer:
She’s adopted
She has a second undergraduate degree in forensic nursing from the University of Colorado
She is proficient at removing eyeballs – just ask her!
Her claim to fame is playing Dorothy in the “Wizard of Oz” in high school.
She is very competitive and likes a challenge. Jennifer’s motto: “Tell me I can’t do something, and I’ll die proving you wrong!”